Oh Daughter, dear Daughter,
Take warning from me
And don't you go marching
With the C-N-D.
For they'll rock you and roll you
And shove you into bed.
And if they steal your nuclear secret
You'll wish you were dead.
Singin' too roo la, too roo la, too roo li ay.
Singin' too roo la, too roo la, too roo li ay.
Oh Mother, dear Mother,
I'm not afraid.
For I'll go on that march
And I'll return a maid.
With a brick in my handbag
And a scowl on my face
And barbed wire in my underwear
To shed off disgrace.
Singin' too roo la, too roo la, too roo li ay.
Singin' too roo la, too roo la, too roo li ay.
But as they were marching
A young man came by
With a beard on his chin
And a gleam in his eye.
And before she had time
To remember her brick...
They were holding a sit-down
On a neighboring hayrick.
Singin' too roo la, too roo la, too roo li ay.
Singin' too roo la, too roo la, too roo li ay.
Now once at the briefing
She'd heard a man say,
"Go perfectly limp,
And be carried away."
So when this chap suggested
It was time she was kissed,
She remembered her briefing
And did not resist.
Singin' too roo la, too roo la, too roo li ay.
Singin' too roo la, too roo la, too roo li ay.
Oh meeting is pleasure
And parting is pain.
I don't need to sing
All that folk stuff again.
Oh Mother, dear Mother
I'm stiff and I'm sore
From sleeping three nights
On a hard classroom floor.
Singin' too roo la, too roo la, too roo li ay.
Singin' too roo la, too roo la, too roo li ay.
Now mother, don't flap
There's no need for distress
That marcher has left me
His name and address.
And if we win
Though a baby there be,
He won't have to march
Like his da-da and me.
Singin' too roo la, too roo la, too roo li ay.
Singin' too roo la, too roo la, too roo li ay.
Take warning from me
And don't you go marching
With the C-N-D.
For they'll rock you and roll you
And shove you into bed.
And if they steal your nuclear secret
You'll wish you were dead.
Singin' too roo la, too roo la, too roo li ay.
Singin' too roo la, too roo la, too roo li ay.
Oh Mother, dear Mother,
I'm not afraid.
For I'll go on that march
And I'll return a maid.
With a brick in my handbag
And a scowl on my face
And barbed wire in my underwear
To shed off disgrace.
Singin' too roo la, too roo la, too roo li ay.
Singin' too roo la, too roo la, too roo li ay.
But as they were marching
A young man came by
With a beard on his chin
And a gleam in his eye.
And before she had time
To remember her brick...
They were holding a sit-down
On a neighboring hayrick.
Singin' too roo la, too roo la, too roo li ay.
Singin' too roo la, too roo la, too roo li ay.
Now once at the briefing
She'd heard a man say,
"Go perfectly limp,
And be carried away."
So when this chap suggested
It was time she was kissed,
She remembered her briefing
And did not resist.
Singin' too roo la, too roo la, too roo li ay.
Singin' too roo la, too roo la, too roo li ay.
Oh meeting is pleasure
And parting is pain.
I don't need to sing
All that folk stuff again.
Oh Mother, dear Mother
I'm stiff and I'm sore
From sleeping three nights
On a hard classroom floor.
Singin' too roo la, too roo la, too roo li ay.
Singin' too roo la, too roo la, too roo li ay.
Now mother, don't flap
There's no need for distress
That marcher has left me
His name and address.
And if we win
Though a baby there be,
He won't have to march
Like his da-da and me.
Singin' too roo la, too roo la, too roo li ay.
Singin' too roo la, too roo la, too roo li ay.
Contributed by Bernart Bartleby - 2016/2/26 - 10:55
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Parole di Alex Comfort (1920-2000), scienziato britannico, pacifista e antinuclearista. Celebre pure per il suo manuale illustrato di sessuologia intitolato “The Joy of Sex” del 1972.
Sulla melodia della popolare inglese “Sweet Betsy”.
Canzone scritta per il movimento per il disarmo nucleare, la cosiddetta Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND)
Testo originariamente pubblicato in B'side # 5, 1962 ed interpretazione inclusa in Broadside Ballads Vol. 1. Il brano fu poi selezionato per la maxi raccolta “The Best of Broadside 1962-1988: Anthems of the American Underground from the Pages of Broadside Magazine” pubblicata dalla Smithsonian Folkways Recordings nel 2000.
Nel 1964 “Go Limp” fu ripresa pari pari da Nina Simone, che semplicemente la adattò alla causa del movimento per i diritti civili sostituendo a “CND” l’acronimo della National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Nel disco dal vivo “Nina Simone In Concert”.
Allegra e battagliera canzone in cui si mescalono i temi della militanza politica e della libertà sessuale. Infatti “Go Limp”, letteralmente “stai molle”, era l’espressione che indicava la tecnica di resistenza passiva spesso adottata dai manifestanti sottoposti agli attacchi delle forze dell’ordine: non opporre resistenza, lasciarsi portare via di peso senza ostacolare gli sbirri ma senza nemmeno aiutarli nell’ingrato compito. La strategia, usata ancora oggi, può avere un certo successo se si è in molti, gli uni vicini agli altri e sempre se i bestioni non cominciano a manganellare dall’alto in basso o ad irrorare gli astanti di pepper spray o altre schifezze… In questo caso il sit-in può risolversi in un inutile martirio…
Da buon impallinato di sessuologia, Alex Comfort impostò il testo come un dialogo tra madre e figlia, in cui la prima mette in guardia la seconda sui rischi, per la sua integrità sessuale, che correrà partecipando ad una manifestazione per il disarmo nucleare. La figlia promette che saprà difendere il proprio “deterrente nucleare”, la propria verginità, ma poi “go limp, and be carried away”, non oppone resistenza e cede alle avances di un bel giovane. Alla fine alla ragazza non resta che rassicurare la madre che lui è una persona seria e che avranno un bimbo e che, se sarà necessario, tutti insieme continueranno a marciare contro la guerra e contro la minaccia nucleare.